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Traditions

Do
you struggle with some of the traditions, or lack thereof, at your church? If
so, my best words of wisdom are to embrace what is meaningful to you while doing
your best to experience and understand the traditions of others. Without realizing
it, I came into our marriage with a lot of traditions – many which my husband
had never experienced – let alone my new church family!

My
heritage came from a long line of Swedish ancestors. On one side of the family,
I am the granddaughter of immigrants and from the other side - a great
granddaughter. Every Christmas we had a traditional smorgasbord meal with many
imported foods and Swedish dishes. We danced around the Christmas tree – at least
in my early years. We learned Swedish Christmas carols. We enjoyed Lucia
celebrations, and we even attended some Christmas services that were spoken in
Swedish. I’m a Swede, and that’s what we do.

Reality
hit once I got married and moved away from a community that had a large Swedish
population. Over time, it was hard to keep my enthusiasm over these traditions
except when I visited my parents. I did keep a bit of the Swedish heritage
alive for my children by putting up traditional Swedish decorations each year,
and a few special cookie recipes also made it to the holiday table. My
childhood traditions and memories remain dear to my heart, but I decided long
ago that many of those traditions weren’t what really made Christmas special
anyway.

The
challenge in the pastorate is that often both the pastor and his wife are from
a different area of the country than where they serve. Often, we don’t think
about how our cultural backgrounds may actually differ from those in our church
family. Add cultural differences with the many things that can crowd the church
calendar and you will have some real challenges on your hands. Then, when
Christmas Day lands on a Sunday, the importance of flexibility and creativity
will be key as you decide when and where your family will celebrate Christmas
together.

Because
our closest family members were either hundreds or thousands of miles away, we
came up with some simple Christmas traditions that weren’t dependent on church
schedules or specific calendar dates. In fact, our girls joke that we only had
one true Christmas tradition and that involved making a special Swedish cookie
we all love. Even now, the youngest family member – our three year old grandson
- will eat them by the fist-full if we don’t keep an eye on him!

The
other traditions that we did incorporate into our family celebration each year
were pretty simple, but they brought a sense of anticipation and celebration
into our home. Plus, with each of these traditions we had the freedom to incorporate
them into our own timeline. Perhaps you have enjoyed something similar with
your family or have memories of one of these traditions from your childhood.

We
went to the woods, found a tree together, cut it down, dragged it out and got a
few pictures too. (This outing wasn’t complete unless we
stopped for hot chocolate and a snack on the way home!)

“Daddy”
got the tree secured in the stand and the girls and I got the lights on and decorated
it.

Lights
went up outside our house, and we enjoyed searching for Christmas lights when
traveling about.

We
decorated the house. One year the girls even had their own ‘charlie brown’ trees
in their bedrooms!

We
shared gifts with our neighbors and sent out an annual Christmas card or
letter.

We
decorated with and enjoyed a variety of Nativity sets through the years.

We
designated a day to be our “Christmas Day.” Sometimes it was on the 25th,
but often times not.

We
traveled hundreds of miles to visit grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and
dear friends.

We
shared gifts with each other as a family – either in our home or after hauling
them half way across the country so grandma and grandpa could
see the joy on the kid’s faces as they opened their gifts!

But,
the most important tradition that I and my husband shared with our girls was to grab
the teachable moments and share with them the ‘real meaning of Christmas.’

We
all have traditions woven through our Christmas celebrations. Some you have had
to be very intentional to create. Some will happen just naturally. Be careful not
to get caught up in envying what others may choose to observe as holiday
traditions. Embrace the moments you have to prepare for Christmas. Take time to
worship the Savior and to share the message of Hope we can find in Him.

Noel, Noel. Born is the King of Israel!

Now,
that’s a tradition I can enjoy all year long!

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